SPACInsider

SPACs have populated the public markets with a variety of quantum computing hardware technology companies, and now one is poised to list the first quantum software company. This week, we speak with Dr. Joe Fitzsimons, CEO of Horizon Quantum, and Harry You, Chairman of dMY Squared Technology Group, Inc (OTC:DMYY). The two announced a $546 million combination in September. Joe explains how Horizon is endeavoring to create the first universal operating system for quantum computers and why that presents both challenges and opportunities while these machines are still in the error correction phase. Ha...

The Winter Olympics and the World Cup are not the only international competitions kicking off this year. The Enhanced Games is gearing up for a May debut as well, with the injection of some SPAC cash and potentially some other performance enhancing substances. This week, we speak with Maximilian Martin, CEO and Co-founder of The Enhanced Games. It announced a $1.3 billion combination with A Paradise Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:APAD) in November. Max explains why he has endeavored to create this new competition where athletes may use banned, but otherwise legal substances to up their game, and...

Quantum computing companies have been among the highest performing de-SPAC sectors in years. And, SPACs have made a major impact on quantum computing by being the listing and financing mechanism for a large portion of the publicly traded cohort. But, the market wasn’t always so bullish on quantum. This week we return to a conversation we had with Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave (NYSE:QBTS) in February 2025. At the time, Quantum computing stocks had just begun their recent revival and Alan helped break down the ups and downs of the previous years as...

This week, we speak with Xanadu founder and CEO Dr. Christian Weedbrook and Bill Fradin, CEO of Crane Harbor Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:CHAC). The two announced a $3.1 billion business combination in November. Is it possible to build a business model that combines features of Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA and a biotech drug developer? Well, Xanadu aims to find out, and it is funding that path via a SPAC. Christian explains how Xanadu differentiates itself from other players in the quantum computing space by focusing on specific hardware advantages as well as a software approach that all...

It is rare to find a SPAC deal that launches hundreds or even thousands of mergers in the future, but this one might be it. Teamshares has built a system for the programmatic acquisition of EBITDA-positive businesses that are typically too small to meet the criteria of private equity buyers. Now, it aims to accelerate these efforts with a $746 million combination with Live Oak Acquisition Corp. V’s (NASDAQ:LOKV). This week, we speak with Teamshares CEO Michael Brown along with Live Oak V CEO Rick Hendrix and CFO Adam Fishman. Michael explains how the company has honed...

This week, we speak with Asheesh Birla, CEO of Evernorth. Evernorth is a crypto treasury focused on XRP, a cryptocurrency that is used in decentralized financial structures and payments. It aims to power that endeavor through its business combination with Armada Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ:XRPN), announced in October. Crypto treasury deals were one of the major themes of 2025 SPAC dealflow, but they are far from being all the same.  Asheesh explains how the company plans to leverage its XRP holdings to generate yield over the long term and how XRP’s unique appeal in international markets present...

Driverless trucks have officially made it to the road and everyday operations of many shippers, but there is still plenty of room for innovation in the field. For instance, if there is no driver, why keep the driver’s compartment at all? This week, we speak with Roozbeh Charli, CEO of Einride, which is introducing fully cabless autonomous trucks into customer fleets and accelerating that rollout through its business combination with Legato Merger Corp. III (NYSE:LEGT). Roozbeh explains how Einride has sped up commercialization by integrating autonomous operations into its existing fleet electrification services, an...

In this episode, we examine how the SPAC market evolved in 2025 and what sponsors, issuers, and investors should be thinking about as the calendar turns to 2026. Joining the discussion are Ed Kovary, Head of Capital Markets at BTIG, and Jerry Serowik, Head of Capital Markets at Cohen & Company, two firms that were among the most active in the SPAC ecosystem in 2025. Drawing on firsthand experience, the conversation covers how deal structures, investor expectations, and sponsor strategies shifted over the course of the year and how capital markets conditions shaped issuance and deal execution. ...

With Matt George, CEO of Merlin Labs Many firms chasing autonomous ground-vehicles have relied on SPACs to reach the public markets, and now Merlin Labs wants to bring autonomy to the skies. The Boston-based startup is developing an AI-powered “pilot,” the Merlin Pilot, designed to manage full “takeoff-to-touchdown” flights across a wide range of aircraft, from light planes to heavy transports. This week, we talk with Merlin Labs CEO Matt George about why the company sat out the first wave of SPAC-driven aerospace mania, and why partnering with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. IV (Nasdaq: BACQ) feels like the righ...

With Ranjeet Sundher, CEO of Tactical Resources, and Kanishka Roy, CEO and Chairman of Plum Acquisition Corp. III SPACs have played a big role in the race to develop US-based sources of rare earth materials, but few available target companies are within a few years having an operational mine. Tactical Resources aims to be the exception. This week, we speak with Ranjeet Sundher, CEO of rare earth miner Tactical Resources, and Kanishka Roy, CEO and Chairman of Plum Acquisition Corp. III (OTC:PLMJF). They came together in a $589 million business combination announced in August. <...

Affordability has become a major theme of 2025 and of all the areas where technology has sped up processes and brought down costs, housing has been a stubborn exception. One company that is trying to bring a new technology-based approach to this is BOXABL, and it has partnered with a SPAC to accelerate that vision. This week, we speak with Galiano Taramani, founder and co-CEO of BOXABL and Larry Swets Jr., CEO of FG Merger Corp. II (NASDAQ:FGMC). The two announced a $3.5 billion combination in August. Galiano explains how BOXABL has found an edge in how...

Presidio CEO Will Ulrich and EQV Ventures CEO Jerry Silvey Discuss Their $664 Million Combination How do you build a fast-growing oil and gas company without drilling single hole and without planning to at any point in the future? That may sound like a riddle, but it’s actually a business model that public investors will soon be able to invest in. This week, we speak with Will Ulrich, CEO of energy firm Presidio and Jerry Silvey, CEO of EQV Ventures Acquisition Corp. (NYSE:EQV). The two announced a $664 million combination in August. Will expla...

Infleqtion CEO Matthew Kinsella on the Business of Quantum Sensing and the Road Ahead (CCCX) With capital pouring into quantum computing, the question is no longer if it will arrive, but what other parts of the quantum world are already here? This week, we speak with Matthew Kinsella, CEO of Infleqtion. It announced a $1.8 billion business combination with Churchill Capital Corp. X (NASDAQ: CCCX) in September. Infleqtion has already commercialized a line of quantum sensing devices for defense applications, which has put it ahead of many in the quantum pack in terms of revenue. <p...

A conversation on nuclear’s next wave with Giordano Morichi of Terra Innovatum and Gus Garcia of GSR III Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: GSRT) Developers of small, modular nuclear reactors have been among the most prized stocks of 2025 given their potential to be big players in the energy mix as data center demand booms. This demand is massive, but when it comes to nuclear reactor design, Terra Innovatum believes it’s a matter of the smaller the better. This week, we speak with Giordano Morichi, Chief Business Development Officer and Head of Investor Relations at Terra Inno...

This week, we sit down with Dynamix Corporation (NASDAQ:ETHM) CEO and Chair Andrejka Bernatova, who is about to list her third SPAC in the past four years with one business combination already completed and another pending. She tells us how it has been quite the ride through the last two SPAC cycles and where she thinks SPACs at times went wrong during the last one. Right now, she is focused on completing Dynamix’s combination with crypto treasury firm The Ether Machine. She explains why her team zeroed in on Ethereum as the cryptocurrency with th...

SPACs have been highly active lately in taking public a new generation of nuclear technology companies, but in order for those companies to meet the power demand being driven by the boom in datacenter deployments, they are going to need a steady supply of uranium. This week, we speak with Mark Mukhidja, CEO of uranium mining firm Eagle Energy Metals, and Chris Sorrells, Chairman and CEO of Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ:SVII). The two announced a $312 million dollar combination back in July that would create a unique stock that is a pure play o...

This week, we return to the subject of autonomous trucking with a SPAC target that already logged months of its trucks operating autonomously in an industrial setting with rollouts on public highways and defense applications inbound. That company is Kodiak, which announced a $2.6 billion combination with Ares Acquisition Corporation II (NYSE:AACT) in April. Kodiak CEO Don Burnette joins us to explain how the company has sought to blaze a trail to commercialization for the company while burning a fraction of the R&D cash that some of its peers have to get to this same point....

In this SPACInsider Podcast REPLAY, we go back to January 2022 when the abrupt end of 2021’s SPAC euphoria was setting in, and new strategies were needed to weather the storm. We sat down with Niccolo de Masi of the dMY SPACs to get his takes on how SPACs were going to roll with the punches and his own vision for when a refreshed SPAC cycle would reemerge. Now that SPACs are back, which of these predictions came to fruition and what lessons from the down market have teams brought into the new cycle? Gi...

An in-depth discussion with Sebastian Bea, President & Head of Investments at ReserveOne, and Vik Mittal, Managing Member at Meteora Capital Partners If there has been one hot summer trend among SPACs, it has been the crypto treasury business combination. To help better understand this new genre of SPAC deal, we sat down with Sebastian Bea, President and Head of Investments at ReserveOne, which announced a $1 billion combination with M3-Brigade Acquisition V Corp (Nasdaq: MBAV) last month. We're also joined by Vik Mittal, Managing Member at Meteora Capital Partners. They discuss why this particular play...

What many of the biggest trends in emerging technology today have in common is that they require significantly more electricity and reliable means of receiving it efficiently. This week, we speak with Simon Irish, CEO of nuclear plant developer Terrestrial Energy, and Shawn Matthews, CEO and Chairman of HCM II Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:HOND). The two announced a $1.3 billion combination in March. Terrestrial Energy is developing designs for small modular nuclear reactors that produce heat for industrial clients along with power. Simon explains why he believes this approach is tailor-made for the demands of the...